Bangladesh's new sports minister eager to repair cricket ties with India

Bangladesh's new sports minister, Aminul Haque, expressed his eagerness to repair ties with the BCCI and India. He met an Indian diplomat to discuss the T20 World Cup 2026 issue, from which Bangladesh was absent due to diplomatic issues.

Aminul Haque, the former Bangladesh national team footballer and Bangladesh's newly appointed sports minister, has expressed his eagerness to repair ties with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and India, as per ESPNcricinfo. Aminul Haque stated that he wants to "resolve this issue quickly" in reference to Bangladesh's absence from the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. He said he met India's deputy high commissioner and discussed the T20 World Cup with him. He described the talks as cordial and expressed Bangladesh's desire to resolve the matter quickly through discussions, emphasising the importance of maintaining friendly ties with neighbouring countries.

Minister Initiates Talks with India

"After taking the oath today, I met with the deputy high commissioner of India at the Parliament building. I discussed the T20 World Cup with him. It was a cordial conversation. I told him that we want to resolve this issue quickly through discussions because we want to maintain friendly relations with all our neighbouring countries," Animul said on Tuesday after Bangladesh's new cabinet was sworn in following the general elections, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Aminul Haque said Bangladesh aims to build "sincere and cordial relationship" with India across all sectors, including sports. He added that diplomatic complications prevented the team from participating in the 2026 World Cup, suggesting that earlier discussions and the resolution of those issues might have made it possible for Bangladesh to participate in the marquee event. "From sports to all other sectors, we want to build a sincere and cordial relationship [with India]. You know that because of diplomatic complications, we could not play in the World Cup. If those issues had been discussed and settled earlier, our team might have participated," Aminul Haque said.

Background of the T20 World Cup Dispute

This development comes after Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 2026 T20 World Cup, after their request to have all their matches played outside India could not be agreed upon by the International Crcket Council (ICC), which they put in place after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Mustafizur Rahman was removed from the squad following instructions from the BCCI amid concerns related to atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh. On February 9, the ICC confirmed that Bangladesh would not face any sanctions for declining to play their T20 World Cup matches in India. Additionally, the BCB was granted the right to host an ICC event before the 2031 men's ODI World Cup, which Bangladesh is set to co-host alongside India. (ANI)

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